Hey Chris,
I don't have any experience with either of these cameras. They don't seem to be comparable types. The Canon seems to be more of the lineage of your old camera.
Here is the only user review I found re the Nikon:
http://www.dpreview.com/products/nik...3/user-reviews
Here is a full review of the Canon:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos600d/
You can set up side-by-side comparisons at the dpreviw web site.
I bought a Nikon d5100 a couple of years ago and haven't kept up so much lately.